I Can Tell That We Are Going To Be Friends
by sophie-alice
Summary: A Marauders Tale: Susanna, a pretty little Italian witch, is being sent to Hogwarts to follow in the footsteps of her father and sister. Along the way she will make friendships that could last her a lifetime. Title taken from the White Stripes song
1. Chapter 1

Smoke was billowing from the large scarlet steam engine, obscuring the overly busy platform nine and three quarters. It was that time of year once again. It was the first of September and the platform was packed with students and their families saying their goodbyes, the occasional parent pushing their reluctant and nervous first year towards the carriage doors.

Amongst those new coming first years was one tiny little girl with ice blond ringlets, pixie-like features and huge blue eyes- somewhat of an anomaly considering her Italian lineage- that were staring in awe at the sight that lay before her; the day she'd been eagerly anticipating for quite some time had finally arrived.

"Run along now Susanna, love, you don't want to miss the train now, do you?" Mrs Lewis, her mother's housekeeper ushered her towards the carriages.

The young girl turned around and beamed at the elderly lady, before throwing her arms around her in a warm embrace.

"Mi mancherà Mabel, ci vediamo a Natale!" the girl, Susi, exclaimed in a high, sing-song voice full of excitement before hurrying towards the train, her perfect curls bouncing all around her.

The elderly lady's loving gaze followed her, eyes filled with pride. She, in return, would miss the way that pretty little girl lit up the house.

Susi was brimming with excitement at she boarded the train. Clutching a small grey kitten to her chest, she lugged her trunk behind her, searching for a compartment. Noting the lack of house colours on the robes of the occupants of one particular compartment, Susi entered, smiling shyly at her fellow first years.

"Hello, I'm Susi, this is Argento" she held up the silver-grey bundle of fur in her hands, "My we sit here?" she looked around the compartment, meeting the eyes of her two companions and suddenly becoming very much aware of her Latin accent.

"Sure," a pretty redheaded girl with a pair of brilliant green eyes smiled back at her, "I'm Lily. Lily Evans."

Susi nodded and smiled at the girl before attempting to heave her luggage up and onto the luggage rack above their heads.

"Let me help you," the other occupant of the carriage- a small, pale, scruffy looking boy- took the trunk from her arms and lifted it securely into place, "I'm Remus, by the way," he blushed. He seemed very well spoken, thought Susi, Mrs Lewis would approve.

Taking a seat beside Lily, opposite Remus, Susi took the opportunity to get a last glimpse of the London cityscape before the train entered the rolling countryside.

"I'd never heard of Hogwarts before the messenger turned up on my doorstep with the letter to explain everything to me and my parents, or about magic. Was it a shock for you two?" the girl, Lily, broke the silence,

"My mother's family are pureblood, and my dad's half blood. My mum went to an academy in Italy, but my Papa went to Hogwarts, and my sister just finished her N.E. there. In Italy we start schooling when we're eight years old, only background and theory though. I just graduated Bella Strega Scuola Preparatoria, I can't wait to start Hogwarts though!" Susie babbled excitedly, blushing as she glossed over her mother's pureblood status and the fact that she already had a rather in depth theoretical knowledge of magic, she didn't want to seem like a snob or a know it all.

"Both my parents went to Hogwarts," Remus added quietly.

"You two are lucky," Lily sighed, "You both know what to expect. I have no idea,"

There was a tap at the door.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" An ancient looking witch pushing a refreshments trolley full of sweets called through the glass to them.

Both Remus and Susi rummaged through their pockets for their coins, Lily however, looked on bemused by the strange looking wrappers and unfamiliar names. Susi noted this.

"Two pumpkin pasties, two chocolate frogs and some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans please," Susi handed over the money and collected the goods from the cart, depositing them on the seat between herself and Lily. Remus collected three chocolate frogs and returned to his seat opposite the girls.

"Try it. Trust me," Susi held out a pasty to Lily, who eyed it warily before taking a tentative bite. She chewed, contemplating the taste, before moaning and taking another, larger bite.

"Mmm, 'tis good!" Lily mumbled with her mouth still slightly full. Susi and Remus laughed.

"Told you," Susi chimed, devouring her own pasty.

"What's next?" asked Lily as she dusted off her hands and grabbed a chocolate frog box, "OH!" she exclaimed as the small chocolate amphibian leaped from the box and onto her lap.

Remus grabbed the little creature and pressed it into Lily's cupped hands.

"Go ahead," he encouraged.

Lily pulled a face, before squeezing her eyes shut and biting the head off of the frog in one huge bite. To her surprise, it had the exact same taste and consistency as the unanimated chocolate she was used to. Yet again, her surprise brought a giggle to the lips of Remus and Susi.

"I think I could get used to this magic thing!" exclaimed Lily, whose bright green almond shaped eyes looked very beautiful when she smiled.

It soon became apparent that the ice between the trio was well and truly broken. Together, they laughed, joked, swapped stories and talked in great detail about their nervousness and excitement about the year ahead of them. To Susi, Lily seemed like a lovely girl. She was obviously very bright, and had a natural charisma that was deeply charming, yet not too overpowering; she was very easily likable. Remus seemed as equally bright as Lily, yet much more reserved. He clearly had a very kind heart, and Susi had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to the boy then meets the eye.

"Tell me more about Hogwarts?" Lily asked when the conversation reached a lull.

"I should think Susi knows more than I do if her sister was there last year," Remus smiled at the strikingly pretty blond girl on the seat across from him.

"Um, well my sister Bella was in Ravenclaw house, she says it's for 'those of wit and learning'. She had blue on her robes, so I think their house colour is blue... Oh, and their ghost is called the grey lady, apparently she's the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw who was murdered by her fiancé who's one of the other house ghosts- Slytherin I think. Papa was in Gryffindor. He's a very brave man, my Papa, he's an Auror, Gryffindors are known for being very brave and they wear red, which I think is a brave colour. Other than that, I'm not really sure. Do you know anything about the other two houses Remus?"

Remus look thoughtful for a moment, before answering, "There's Hufflepuff, who wear yellow, I haven't hear much about them but I think they're known for being kind hearted. Then there's Slytherin. I've heard rumours about Slytherins. Nasty rumours. But then again, you can't believe everything you hear. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see..." Remus trailed off into his own quiet thoughts, filling the compartment with suspense that could be clearly read in Lily's expression.

As the sky began to darken, the train began to decelerate and there was a tangible buzz of excitement in the air; the train was obviously nearing its destination. A booming voice echoed through the carriages, informing students that they would be arriving at their destination shortly, and to leave their belongings on the train, as they would be sent up to the school separately. Susi studied the expressions of her companions, Remus appeared to be deep in thought, but he was clearly very happy. Almost like he couldn't believe he was on his way to Hogwarts. Lily, on the other hand, looked slightly pale, yet despite this, there was a glint in her eye that seemed to suggest that she was ready for any challenge.

Suddenly, the train came to a halt, and one by one, the station lights flickered on, illuminating the tiny platform. The crowds of students began to pile off of the train and onto the small platform, and the trio began to follow a crowd of first years over to a rather large and hairy looking man who looked around forty years of age beneath the giant beard.

"Firs'-years? All 'ere?" he swung a lantern over their heads, illuminating the faces of the nervous looking first years, "All righ', follow me. Jus' round this bend 'ere!"

The group began to follow the mountainous figure along a small path, which suddenly opened onto the edge of a great lake. The filed one by one onto the small jetty, that began to creak and groan under the substantial weight of their guide.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the large man called out, gesturing to a fleet of tiny boats, bobbing around in the water.

The trio stuck together and climbed into a boat, Remus hopping in first to assist the girls into the boats. A lanky boy with straggly black hair and a rather pointed nose also joined them.

"Severus! Hello! It's me, Lily!" Lily squeaked excitedly, causing the boat to lurch dangerously.

"Hullo Lily. Nice to see you," The boy smiled at her,

"This is Susi and Remus," Lily pointed to them in turn, "this is Severus, he lives near me. We used to go to the same park when we were younger," She smiled, clearly pleased to have found a familiar face.

The boy, Severus, didn't seem to want to say much, but Susi couldn't help but notice the gaze of admiration he had fixed on Lily from the moment he had spotted her from the jetty.

With little warning, the boats began to glide through the glossy black waters of the lake. Everyone was silent as they gazed in awe up at the castle, which was perched upon a high mountain across the other side of the lake. It's bright lights illuminating its many turrets against the inky black sky.

"HEADS!" the large man called, as the boats passed beneath a small archway draped heavily in ivy. They proceeded along a dark tunnel, until they reached an underground harbour where the little boats began to moor themselves.

The first years were silent as they began clambering out of the boats and following the large man up a small flight of steps to a huge oak door. He lifted a huge fist and knocked loudly three times on the door. There was an audible sharp intake of breath as the first years waiting for the knock to be answered.


	2. Chapter 2

The heavy door creaked open (cue several of the first years around Susi to jump), revealing a tall, black haired witch wearing emerald green robes and a tall pointed hat, with her half moon spectacles perched upon the bridge of her nose. She oozed power from every pore, yet there was a definite likable quality about the stern lady stood before them.

"Ah, Hagrid, at last," she smiled at the large man, "I see you have delivered the first years. This way please!"

She strode ahead, leading the gaggle of nervous eleven year olds through a vast entrance hall, past a grand marble staircase and into a small chamber off a room, which Susi presumed to be the hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House and Transfiguration teacher here at Hogwarts. In a moment, you will all be sorted into your houses, which will determine which table you dine at, where you sleep and with whom you will be working towards the goal of House Cup at the end of the year by earning House Points for your respective houses. There are four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each with it's own history and traditions. Triumph will earn you house points, and rule breaking will result in House Points being lost. I expect each and every one of you to be a credit to your chosen houses," she eyeballed them all sternly, making sure every word sunk in, "now, if you would all follow me this way, the Sorting will begin."

The Professor swung the door open and lead the first years through the great hall, which had fallen deathly silent as the first years processed past the tables and to the front of the hall, where a battered looking, slightly wilted, pointed hat sat upon a small three legged stool.

To the great surprise of the first years, the brim of the hat opened to reveal a mouth, which began to bellow out a tune. None of which sunk into the head of Susi, she was far to busy taking in the spectacular great hall. The ceiling was beautiful, bewitched to reflect the night sky outside, with hundreds of thousands of candles floating above the heads of students at four long tables, with approximately sixty students at each. At the front of the hall, on a raised plinth, stood what Susi presumed to be the staff table. A very old looking wizard with long silver hair and a beard smiled at her, a twinkle in his eye behind his half moon glasses. His chair was much grander than the rest. This must be the famous Dumbledore, Susi thought. She had heard great things about this man. She felt honoured to be in his presence.

In her daydreaming, Susi had not noticed that the Sorting Hat had finished it's song, and that several of her first year colleagues had in fact been sorted into their respective houses, and that everyone stood close to her had turned to stare at her,

"Susi! It's your turn!" Remus hissed under his breath, nudging her towards the Hat.

"For the last time, Hartwin-Magia, Susanna Cara! It's your turn!" called Professor McGonagall irritably.

Susi blushed a deep crimson, before hurrying forwards and plonking herself down onto the stool, ramming the battered hat over her head.

"Buona Sera! Another Hartwin-Magia. Well, well, well, where to put you. You have brains, just like your sister- but oh! What do I see here! A heart of pure gold, just like your dear Papa's. Well, in that case, it's got to be-" a little voice echoed all around her head, before bellowing out loud "GRYFFINDOR!"

Whoops and cheers came from the Gryffindor table, Susi beamed and made her way over, her Papa would be so proud of her- she couldn't' wait to write him an owl. To her delight, as she approached the table she realised that her train companion, Lily had also been sorted into the Gryffindor house.

"Well done Susi! I thought you we're never going to get sorted then, you looked away with the fairies!" Lily hugged her as she took a seat next to her.

It seemed as though all the first years had grouped around the top of the table, a boy she recognised from the entrance hall sat opposite them. He was rather handsome, or he would be in a few years, with floppy black hair and fathomless grey eyes that were sparkling with mischief.

"I'm Sirius Black," he held out a hand across the table for Susi to shake, she smiled and extended her own, only to have him lift her hand to his lips and plant a soft kiss on her knuckles, "You Italian girls need to be treated with a bit of class, right?" he smirked cheekily.

Lily's jaw dropped and Susi narrowed her eyes at the boy, snatching her hand away.

"I think... I think that you seriously over estimate your charm, Black," she retorted, accent thickening due to her acute embarrassment.

The boy sniggered; clearly pleased with the way he had managed to get under her skin. Beside her Lily tutted, glaring at the audacity of the young boy. Willing the blush away from her cheeks, Susi lowered her eyes and her gaze fell on the empty plate in front of her. She was dimly aware of the headmaster launching into a speech; yet she was only roused from her daydream when the huge serving plates in front of her began to fill will mountains upon mountains of deliciously rich food.

"Wow, this most certainly is a feast!" Came Remus' awed voice from beside her. She hadn't noticed him take a seat there.

Smiling, she followed the lead of her fellows and dug in to the glorious food, though she didn't recognise some things, like the curious little puddings with crust edges and a sunken doughy middle (Yorkshire puddings, Lily informed her).

By the end of the feast, it was safe to assume that every single person in that room was fit to burst thanks to the Hogwarts House Elves down in the kitchens.

"First years, if you would follow your house prefects to your common rooms!" Heads of houses called down the long house tables.

Susi noted which of the fifth, sixth and seventh years had badges attached to their robes baring the shiny letter 'P' and hurried along after them, gazing awestruck at the magnificent height of the ceiling in the entrance hall and the grandeur of the marble staircase, of which she skipped up behind Lily, coming to an abrupt stop when Lily began to sink into the staircase,

"Watch out for the trick step!" one of the prefects leading the way called out lazily.

Remus and Susi hauled Lily out of the step, taking care to miss the step as they proceeded. Finally, the procession of Gryffindor first years reached the seventh floor, and came to an abrupt halt in front of a portrait of a rather portly looking woman in a lurid pink satin dress.

"Mackled Malaclaw," the rather bored looking sixth year boy drawled, causing the portrait to swing open, revealing a hole that the prefect then began waving the first years through, "that's the password, forget it and it's your own fault. This is the common room, 1st through 3rd years don't leave the common room after eight o'clock, nine for years 4 through 7. Boys dormitories are up that staircase, first door for first years and so on, same goes for the girls, up that staircase over there," the boy pointed to the staircases, "check the notice board every now and again. As you can see, this is the common room, fireplace and so on. Don't do anything stupid. Boys and girls' bathrooms are through that door and down the stairs. Questions? No, good. Scram," the boy waved away the rather bewildered looking first years, who all seemed to be gravitating towards the dormitories, eager to explore their bed rooms for the year.

Susi glanced down and noticed that Lily had slipped her hand into Susi's, a thought that calmed Susi instantly, at least there was someone else who was as nervous as herself. They climbed the spiral staircase and followed three other girls into the dormitory. The room was circular, with five beds (each with a trunk at the foot, obviously belonging to each of the girls), five bedside tables, one large wardrobe (presumably for all of the girls to share) with a large ornate mirror laid into the door and a grand fireplace opposite the door, which was crackling away, giving the room a homely glow.

"Susi, you're bed's next to mine!" Lily called, smiling as she flopped down onto one of the four-poster beds, fiddling with the curtains and rolling around, assessing the comfort. Susi mirrored her actions, bouncing a little as she sat down, letting her head fall back and crash into the soft, feather pillows. She rolled onto her side and surveyed the room; there were three other girls in the room, with whom neither Lily nor Susi had spoken to yet. Susi was reluctant to speak first; she was beginning to feel very self-conscious of her Latin accent, which was very obvious against Lily's typically English cadence.

"Please tell me that someone else is as overwhelmed as I am by all of this?" Lily broke the silence,

"Oh Merlin, I am!"

"Yes!"

"Me too!"

Susi smiled, at least hey were all on an equal footing as far a nerves were concerned.

"Did you two meet on the train?" a girl with shoulder length, wavy brunette hair a heavy spattering of freckles and a thick Irish accent gestured towards Lily and Susi,

"Yeah, did you three?" Susi spoke up now, conscious that she had not yet spoken,

"Aye, well, me and Milly did, met Flo at the feast," she gestured to the two other girls as she mentioned them, "I'm Fiona, by the way, Fiona O'Cailin,"

"I'm Lily Evans," Lily waved,

"Melissa Abbott," smiled a soft looking girl, with a round, pink face who wore her blonde hair in plaited pig tails, "Milly,"

"Susanna- Susi," Susi nodded to the girls,

"Florence Smith," a rather plain and timid looking girl with mousy brown hair and watery blue eyes managed to crack a half smile,

"Well, that's us all well and truly introduced!" Fiona smiled.

To Susi, Fiona felt like an apparent leader to Melissa and Florence; she seemed rather nice though, bubbly with a wicked sense of humour- she had the girls in stitches until lights out. Melissa seemed very nice also, not as bright as Fiona or Lily, but she seemed loyal and kind. Florence was the quietest of the five. She seemed very much overwhelmed by Hogwarts, more so than even Lily, which Susi found strange as Florence had announced that she was a half blood during a rather awkward-for-Susi conversation about blood status. Needless to say, Susi had glossed over her family's prestigious bloodline and had moved the conversation onto something tamer. All of the girls- Lily included- were deeply interested in Susi's Italian schooling, having had no prior knowledge of how to perform magic themselves,

"You're going to be _so_ much better than the rest of us!" Lily groaned, throwing a pillow at her newfound friend,

"I wont!" Susi held up her hands, caught the pillow and threw it back, "honestly, I'd never even held a wand before I bought mine over the summer,"

The girls gossiped, chatted and laughed until the lamps flicked off and the fire began to die.

"Night girlies!" Fiona called, drawing the curtains around her bed,

"Night!"

"Goodnight!"

"Buona notte!"

"Night!"


	3. Chapter 3

With great difficulty, after getting lost several times, Susanna and Lilly managed to find their way to the great hall for breakfast. Lily glanced up at a large grandfather clock that stood in one corner behind the staff table, grumbling slightly, as due to the very tricky to navigate maze of corridors and un-predictable moving staircases it had taken them a grand total of fifty-five minutes to make their way down to breakfast, giving them five minutes before their first lesson of Hogwarts was due to start,

"Toast!" Susi nudged Lily as they took a seat at the table,

Lily looked at her, somewhat confused and slightly vacant,

"Toast," Susi repeated, "we can put a couple of slices in our pockets and take them with us," she began enthusiastically slathering her toast with marmalade, sticking the condiment covered sides together and stuffing them into the pockets of her robes, Lily began to do the same but let out a squeak of excitement when Fiona bounded over with two pieces of parchment that turned put to be their time tables.

Susi thanked Fiona and began studying her timetable. She grimaced when she spotted that she would be confined to history of magic for a double lesson on a Thursday afternoon, she was bound to fall asleep during that...

"We have potions in the dungeons, you coming?" Lily was on her feet, the pockets of her robes bulging from the sliced of toast she had hurriedly stuffed there.

Susi nodded and leapt to her feet, she followed Lily through the entrance hall, past the marble staircase and down a dingy, rickety staircase that presumably lead to the dungeons. Susanna had no idea how on earth Lily was able to remember where she was going in this vast and variable castle, which in a way made Susanna long for the wide and airy corridors and beautiful frescos of Bella Strega Scuola. As they descended to the dungeons, the air was noticeably colder, causing Susi (who was already feeling the cold in great contrast to the sultry Italian weather she was used to) to shiver and pull her robes tightly around herself.

The two girls pushed open the heavy oak door of the potions classroom. As if the dungeons weren't creepy enough, the walls of the room were lined with jars of various sinister looking objects suspended in brightly coloured liquids, pickling away. Lily chose a spot for the two of them at the front of the classroom. On every desk in front of every chair rested a stand for each of their cauldrons with a small dish underneath which Susanna presumed would contain fire when the time came for brewing. At the front of the classroom, behind the teachers desk sat a rather portly looking fellow how did not look unlike a walrus.

"Alright, settle down, settle down. Now, lets see whom I have here... Ah, yes, Gryffindors, welcome to the dungeons! Slytherins, I presume you will get quite accustomed to life down here over the course of your academic career here at Hogwarts," the professor stood and waddled out from behind his desk, "I am Professor Slughorn, head of Slytherin house and Potions master here at Hogwarts. Over the course of your first year, I will be introducing you all to the basic foundations of the delicate art of potion making. Now, take out your copies Magical Draughts and Potions and we shall begin!"

The double lesson passed rather slowly, with copious amounts of note taking while Slughorn talked aloud, when finally, the class was divided into pairs and set the task of concocting a simple boil curing potion. As Susanna had deduced, Lily was incredibly bright, with an almost competitive edge, something that stood the pair in good stead, as they managed to brew their potion perfectly, completing the work before any of the other pairs- a feat which earned them ten points each for Gryffindor.

Susi's luck ran out, however, when after lunch Susi followed her fellow first year Gryffindors up the marble staircase to the first floor, and along the corridor to the history of magic classroom. As the group entered the stuffy classroom, Susi could already feel her spirits sinking and her mind switching off. The Gryffindors took their seats along with the first year Ravenclaws (a fact which irritated Susanna even further, not only would she have to endure copious note taking on a subject she had great disdain for, but her lack of aptitude in the subject would be further highlighted by the brilliance of the famously clever Ravenclaws.

The most exciting thing that happened during the hour was when Professor Binns first appeared by floating through the blackboard and giving the entire class quite a scare. That was where the thrill of having a ghost as a teacher ended, and the class spent the next hour being lulled to sleep by his droning monotonous voice as is begun to describe the events that lead up to the first Goblin Rebellion.

The rest of that week passed in a flurry of note taking and the foundations of practical magic. While Susanna began to fairly quickly detest those subjects in which large amounts of note taking was a staple, she began to excel in the more practical subjects, like potions (Susi and Lily made a formidable team and were fast becoming Slughorn's favourites) herbology and charms. Lily, of course, was brilliant in everything, particularly charms, where right from the start she performed perfectly on her first try. A fact that greatly shocked the snobbish pureblood Slytherins with whom the Gryffindors shared their charms lessons with. Other event of notable excitement to Susanna was the prospect of Flying lessons, which- according to the Gryffindor notice board- would be starting the following Thursday at half past three on the lawns in front of the school. Susi had always loved flying, having ridden on a broom before she even learned to walk (something which had given her mother a great deal of fright over the years, and had resulted in copious amounts of Skelegrow in order to fix Susi's numerous broken bones).

Much to the distaste of the female Gryffindor first years, a tight allegiance had begun to form within a fairly mischievous foursome of Gryffindor boys. James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and their little hanger on, Peter Pettigrew had begun calling themselves The Marauders. Their chief aim being to cause as much mischief and mayhem around the school without managing to get caught; the latter being a feat which, at first, they had some trouble pulling off thus resulting in many of the points earned for Gryffindor by the likes of Lily and Susanna being deducted, and the four of them being thrown into detention what seemed like every other night. Lily was less than impressed, but Susi couldn't help but find some of the jokes amusing, though she was rather irked that due to the boys setting off an entire crate of dungbombs in the potions dungeon, that potions class had been relocated to a dark corner of the library and had been stripped of the practical element until the vile stench dispersed. Though, it was rather hilarious when a Slytherin walked by causing people to gag; the dung bombs had permeated the Slytherin common room and dormitories, causing every single member of Slytherin to be doused in a rather unfavourable odour.

For this misdemeanour, the four boys had earned a weeks worth of detentions, a matter that would have had no impact on Susanna if she hadn't been caught sneaking up to the owlery after hours by Filch and his vile feline, Mrs Norris. Susanna had been dragged in her pyjamas, rather reluctantly, to McGonagall's office, and subsequently given a detention (though Susi had suspicions that McGonagall would have let the matter slide if only she hadn't been woken up at such an unholy hour of the night).

Which brings us to the Tuesday night of their second week at Hogwarts. Since Susanna's detention coincided with the detentions of the four Gryffindor boys, she had been sent along to the hospital wing with them. Sirius Black and James Potter lagged behind, messing around and shooting sparks at each other from their wands. Peter Pettigrew joked along with them, though seemed unable to actually produce the sparks himself. Susi and Remus walked ahead, both eager to get the detention over and done with,

"I don't see why you hang around with those idiots, Remus," Susi commented darkly as Black shot purple sparks her way, singeing the cuff of her robes,

"They're not so bad once you get to know them. They're a laugh really. And James isn't quite as arrogant as he comes across, and Sirius is really just trying to work the whole 'misunderstood bad-boy' image. I've been told the ladies love it," Remus laughed, smiling at Susi who cocked one eyebrow at his last comment,

"Hmpf, well someone might want to inform black that he's not as irresistible as he thinks, in fact, every girl I've spoken to thinks he's a complete prat!" Susi sniffed and held her head high.

When they reached the hospital wing, they were greeted by a stern looking and rather un-amused matron who set them all to work on stripping and making beds, scrubbing floors and (much to Susanna's horror) emptying bedpans... The muggle way.

Susanna was crouched on the floor, scrubbing brush in hand, when she felt something cold and slimy ooze into her hair. Then the smell (along with the overwhelming urge to vomit) hit her. She whipped around, wand raised, and before Sirius Black knew what had hit him, his bogies had flown out of his nostrils and were violently attacking his face.

"Bloody hell! Get 'em off!" Black began screaming like a little girl.

James Potter was bent double, unable to contain his laughter, Pettigrew looked rather scared and Remus was enjoying a good smirk. Susi continued to glare at Sirius, however when he had been reduced to curling into a ball on the floor, she began to soften and enjoy the hilarity of the situation.

The rest of the detention passed relatively drama free, with few words being exchanged after Susanna had called off Sirius' bogies. When the matron finally released them, they trudged back up to the Gryffindor tower. Once again, Remus walked with Susi,

"Thanks for giving me a clean, by the way," Susi smiled at Remus, who had done an excellent (if not completely effective) job of cleaning off what Sirius had flung at her,

"It was nothing," Remus smiled, blushing, "that hex you did was amazing you know, you'd never have guessed this was only your second week of school,"

Susanna shrugged,

"I have an older sister," she hated feeling like she was showing off, "could you teach me that cleaning charm sometime?"

Remus nodded, flashing her a smile once again. He really was very sweet, yet somehow that only made Susanna feel slightly uncomfortable; she couldn't help feeling like a misfit. She blinked and tried to push those sort of thoughts out of her head, _It's because he's a boy_, she thought, _all those years of all girl schooling, you're not used to boys._

"So what was a teachers' pet like you doing in detention, HM?" James turned and began walking backwards as he spoke,

Susi narrowed her eyes at the rather fowl form of her surname he had used,

"Teachers' pet? Just because I actually want an education, Potter. Not all of us have to spend our time showing off pulling elaborate jokes,"

James grinned. His ego really was far too big for it's own good.

"Still doesn't explain why you were in detention."

"I got caught out of the common room after hours," She stated simply,

"Oooh! Sneaking around the castle in the dark! What were you up to?" now Black had joined in.

"I was on my way back from posting a letter, if you must know."

"Was it a _lurve_ letter," Sirius teased, grey eyes a-sparkle.

Susanna blushed deep crimson. It most certainly was _not_ a love letter, and she really didn't appreciate boys like Sirius mocking her.

"She's blushing Jamesy!" Sirius nudged his bespectacled friend, "hard luck mate, she's obviously not as easy as we assumed."

Susanna's jaw dropped and she flushed a deep scarlet; she was mortified. Sirius began to laugh, but judging by the looks of the faces of the other three boys, they were almost as shocked as Susi at Sirius' harsh words. Tears began to prick at Susanna's eyes as she pushed past the boys and sprinted for the safety of her dormitory.

Tears were rolling down her cheeks by the time she let herself into her dormitory and collapsed onto her bed. The other girls had gone to bed, but Lily stirred and rolled over to face her friend, unprepared for the emotion that was written plainly on Susanna's face,

"Susi? What's wrong?" Lily sat bolt upright, concern radiating from her eyes,

"Non mi piace Sirius Black. Lo odio! E 'rude, dannosa e media!" Susanna gabled in Italian,

"Um, could you slow down? And maybe speak English; What about Sirius Black?" Lily clambered out of bed and perched on the edge of Susi's, laying a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder,

"I hate him," she muttered, this time in English.

Lily sighed,

"What did he do?"

Susanna sniffed and wiped her eyes angrily on the cuff of her robes before answering,

"For starters he threw the contents of a bedpan into my hair, then… On the way up to the common room just now he was… very rude," tears of anger stung her eyes once again, "he called me a… He implied I was a _mondana_."

Lily looked questioningly back at her,

"You know, a…um… He called me 'easy'."

Lily narrowed her eyes: if she didn't hate that gang of boys before, she certainly did now.

"Sirius Black and his pathetic gang of followers are nothing but immature, arrogant prats, who wouldn't know class if it crawled up their arseholes. Ignore him, Susi."

Susanna mustered up a chuckle at her friend's rather vicious reaction. She smiled at Lily and gave her hand a squeeze,

"Grazie, Lily. Goodnight."

The two girls embraced, before Lily climbed back into her own bed and both girls drew the hangings on their beds. One thing was for sure; Sirius Black had better not get on the wrong side of either one of those girls ever again.


	4. Chapter 4

At Hogwarts, the 31st of October means a monumental Hallowe'en Feast. When the students had awoken that Sunday morning, they were greeted by giant pumpkins in every corner of the castle, masses and masses of flaming orange and inky black streamers, and hundreds upon thousands of pumpkin lanterns grinning toothily and cackling every time someone walked by. At breakfast, they were served nothing but the finest Pumpkin Pastries as one thousand bats flitted around their heads, along with the usual owls of the morning post.

Lily seemed delighted when the morning post arrived and a handsome looking tawny owl dropped a letter and a small package onto her lap,

"It's from my mum and dad!" Lily exclaimed excitedly, waving the letter in Susanna's less than enthusiastic face. Next, Lily tore into the parcel, and giggled as a strange looking mask, a rubber bat and what Susi could only presume were muggle sweets, fell onto her breakfast plate.

"I'm not sure I understand," Susi's brow furrowed.

"They've sent me a trick or treat parcel!" Lily smiled, looking into the still confused face of Susi, "You know, for Hallowe'en."

"I don't know Hallowe'en," She stated plainly. She had noticed the abundance of pumpkins and party decorations, but had just presumed that someone had decided to brighten up the castle with Autumnal decorations.

"You don't have Hallowe'en in Italy?" Remus butted into the conversation, helping himself to one of Lily's muggle sweets. Susanna simply shook her head in reply, blushing at her apparent ignorance to this English tradition.

"It's supposed to be the scariest night of the year- when all the ghosties and ghouls come out to play. People get dressed up and have parties and children go to their neighbours houses and ask for treats in exchange for not playing a trick," Lily explained, "at least that's the muggle version of things anyway."

Remus nodded in agreement, "it's like a celebration of the dead. There are feasts and parties and lots and lots of pumpkins," he explained, "And chocolate of course."

Susi considered this for a moment, before widening her eyes in understanding,

"Ah! Giorno dei Morti! Um, day of the dead? That is the 2nd of November for us though."

"Must be the same thing," Remus mumbled, his mouth full of pumpkin pasty.

Lily wrinkled her nose at the sight of Remus talking with his mouth full. Thought it seemed she was not alone in the reception of Hallowe'en care packages from home, James potter had received and enormous amount of sweets from home, and was following his Pumpkin Pasties by working his way through a giant jar of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans with the Help of Sirius Black.

"Those are my favourites," Susi uttered the first not unkind words to James since that unfortunate night of the detention,

"So? It's not like I was offering them around," Potter snapped at her, obviously sore from the bruised ego he had received from the public snub he was receiving from Lily and Susi.

Susanna was rather taken aback by his tone, but she chose to ignore it; since coming to Hogwarts she had learned that the best way to cope with immature little boys like Potter was to rise above it and ignore them, a feat that was rather trying to her fiery Latin temper. With a knowing glance at Lily, the two girls shot James a synchronised withering stare and strutted out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase, towards the library.

The girls spent most of their day holed up in the library, practising transfiguring pumpkins into teapots- Susi would have preferred mice, but it seemed that they would not be transfiguring live animals until their second year- until Susi could take no more and announced to all four of her fellow female first year Gryffindors (the other three had joined Lily and herself after lunch) that Susi pushed back her chair and announced that the stuffy library was giving her a headache, and that she was going for a walk.

Susanna had greatly underestimated the harshness of Scottish winters when packing warm clothing for Hogwarts, for the weather outside was bitterly cold and there was a harsh wind blowing. Nevertheless, Susi wrapped the scarlet and gold scarf, which her Papa had sent her in celebration of her sorting into Gryffindor, around her neck and strode off with a plan to explore the grounds, however she didn't get very far without bumping into whom else, but Sirius Black.

He smirked when he caught sigh of her, although, Susi noticed, his swagger didn't seem quite so confident without James Potter at his side. Susi had planned to ignore him, but with a flick of his wand he managed to flip up the hem of her robes, giving himself an excellent shot of her underwear.

Flushing beetroot red, Susanna was about to raise her wand, when a booming voice stopped her in her tracks,

"SIRIUS BLACK! STOP THAT OUTRAGEOUS BEHAVIOUR AND GET TO MY OFFICE THIS INSTANT!" bellowed Professor McGonagall who had stuck her head out of her office window the moment she had caught sight of Blacks misdoings.

With a roll of his eyes and a wink at the still blushing Susi, Sirius sloped off towards the castle, leaving Susi to try and calm the huge wave of embarrassment that was engulfing her. She was so embarrassed that she couldn't even bring herself to be furious with the boy, and a tear slipped down her cheek as she began to wonder how on earth she was going to face seeing him at the grand Hallowe'en feast that was taking place tonight. Knowing Black, he would be mouthing off about it over the roast potatoes, shaming her to the entire school.

She had taken refuge underneath a beech tree, when a familiar hoot echoed around her, and with a slight smile she extended her arm for her family's eagle owl, Homer, to perch upon. Homer stuck out his leg in order for Susanna to detach the scroll of parchment that had been fastened on by a leather throng. Homer gave her ear an affectionate nip, before soaring into the air in the direction of the west tower, where the owlery was located. Excitedly, Susi unrolled the parchment,

_Mia cara Sus',_

_I'm sorry I haven't yet written to you! It is not easy training to become a healer, and it is very time consuming. Papa tells me you have been sorted into Gryffindor, shame on you ragazzina! Only joking, but still, Ravenclaw is by far the best Hogwarts house._

_I have a special surprise for you when you come home for the Christmas holidays! I know it's a while away yet, but I couldn't simply keep it from you, but I want to wait until we are in person to share my happy news._

_Hope you are enjoying Hogwarts, and that you are not finding the Scottish climate too harsh. I miss you my little sorella minore,_

_Tutta la mia amore,_

_'Bella_

_xoxo_

Susi's heart was instantly warmed, back home, Susanna had always bickered with her sister, but now they were apart it was plain to see how they missed each other so. In Susi's opinion, Lily could keep her silly 'trick or treat' goody bag, for the letter Susi had just received seemed like a far better present than some muggle sweets and a rubber bat.

That evening was the feast, and due to it being such a special occasion, Lily was taking an unusually long time to get ready, insisting that she dressed up a little for the occasion. The whole concept passed right over Susanna's head, and instead of flouncing around in front of the mirror with Lily and Fiona, Susi perched on Lily's bed, flicking through a copy of _Strega Settimanale_.

"Did you hear about Sirius?" Fiona asked in a scandalised tone,

"No, what?" replied Lily.

Susi's face turned bright red for the second time that day and she ducked her head behind her magazine.

"McGonagall caught him up to his usual mischief and barred him from the feast tonight. He has to collect all the owl droppings from the owlery for Professor Sprout _by hand_, without any sort of protective gloves, and then he get to eat some leftovers in McGonagall's office," Fiona grinned. She loved to gossip.

"Really! What did he do this time?" Lily laughed, taking some delight in his misfortune,

"No idea. He's keeping his mouth shut. Not even his sidekick Potter knows what he's been up to. I'm pretty sure McGonagall hit him with a tongue tying curse, so it must have been pretty bad whatever it is."

Susi breathed a sigh of relief and felt a rush of gratitude towards McGonagall. She now felt much better about going down to the feast, safe in the knowledge that Sirius Black would be unable to broadcast the colour of her underwear to the entire school, and that he was paying for his crimes in a messy and rather smelly way. She bounded off the bed, and proceeded to spend the next fifteen minutes trying to persuade Lily and Fiona to hurry up, before giving up and making her way down to the feast without them.

The great hall looked magnificent during the feast. The thousands of candles that were usually suspended above their heads, illuminating the hall had been encased in carved pumpkin heads, casting an eerie glow over the room. The ghosts were abnormally lively, and soared around the room laughing and joking, occasionally swooping down on unsuspecting students and causing a scream. The food, as always, was excellent, and that night the puddings had been particularly superb, even if the kitchen staff had gone a little overboard with the red food colouring, odiously desiring everything to look rather sinister and bloodstained. At the end of the evening, the students made their way back to their dormitories well and truly stuffed to burst.

"You go on ahead, I'm heading to the owlery," Susi called to Lily over the babbling crowd that was trudging up the marble staircase. She wanted to post the reply she has written to Isabella. Lily nodded and gave her a wave, before being swept off in the crowds of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws who were making their way back to their towers.

By the time Susi was making her way towards the Gryffindor tower, it was almost curfew, noting this she began to hurry, not really looking where she was going, which resulted in a collision right outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Oh, it's you." Susi spat in a rather disgruntled manner, picking herself up off the floor and dusting down her robes.

From a heap on the floor, Sirius black glared daggers at her, his grey eyes boring into hers. He was evidently very annoyed at having missed the feast and in his eyes Susi was the reason he had missed out on the festivities. He looked away, a sheepish expression beginning to form on his face,

"Look, about earlier, um… McGonagall says I have to apologies," he couldn't bring himself to look directly at her and it was obvious that he considered this an apology, even though the word 'Sorry' had yet to pass his pouting lips.

"Well I don't accept. And I wont ever. Stay away from me, Sirius Black, you're nothing but a selfish, immature mischief maker who has no consideration for other people's feelings!" Susi hissed at him, the anger she was unable to feel that afternoon creeping up on her, "I mean it, come near me again and I'll do more than set your bogies on you."

Sirius scoffed, thinking it highly unlikely that a first year that had only just finished her second month at Hogwarts could produce any sort of spell that would cause him any real harm. Susanna held her head high and muttered the password,

"Samhain," causing the portrait to swing open and grant her access to the tower.

Outside, Sirius was still sprawled on the floor, shaking his head and muttering darkly about 'that Italian witch', only he didn't say witch, causing several of the nearby portraits to shriek in alarm, curing at him to wash his mouth out. The Fat Lady was feeling quite mean, and in a show of solidarity with Susanna, refused to let Sirius by, forcing him to sleep curled in a ball, outside the portrait hole. Now he really hated that Susi girl.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: **Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing! This next chapter has a few bits that might not be familiar if you're not British, so after these parts I've put explaination in *'s, also, I think British mischief night is different to elsewhere, so if you're not British, for us it's November 4th, not October 30th. Anyway, a little bit of seasonal fun, centred mostly around the Marauders.

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All was unnervingly quiet in the Gryffindor first year boys' dormitory. Sirius Black lay wide-awake, staring at the bed hangings above him. He and James had been planning today for quite some time, they'd even gone to the trouble of persuading two of the three other boys with whom they shared a room to pitch in with the mischief making, and thus the concept of The Marauders was born. Sirius paid no mind to the fact that he would probably end up in detention for the events that would undoubtedly unfold today, but his only desire was for Susanna Hartwin-Magia to have no hand in foiling his plans.

Sirius rolled over and yanked the hangings surrounding his bed apart. To his left, a tuft of untidy black hair was just about visible from beneath a cocoon of blankets. Sirius rolled over to the side of his bed and groped around under it for something to throw at James, who was fast becoming his best friend. His hand landed on a battered trainer _*or sneaker if you read the non UK version of the books*_ and he launched it at James' slumbering figure,

"Narg," he snorted, "Wass 'appnin?" he mumbled sleepily, groping around his bedside table to his glasses.

Across the dormitory, woken by the kafuffle made by Sirius and James, Remus Lupin stirred, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He still felt exhausted from his, ahem, _visit _to his _dying grandmother_ two nights ago.

"Get your arse in gear, Jamesy boy, it's the day we've been waiting for!" Sirius leaped out of bed and bounded around the room like an over excited puppy, leaping onto the beds of James, Remus and his final recruit Peter, and bouncing around.

Remus rolled his eyes. Today was November 4th, mischief night, the night before some crazy muggle tried to blow up the muggle government, the night before bonfire night _*otherwise known as Guy Fawkes night*_. A month ago, James and Sirius had cornered Remus in the Library and begged him to help them orchestrate a little bit of chaos to brighten up the otherwise dreary November day. The idea of having 'friends' was somewhat of an alien concept to Remus, having been warned his whole life that he probably wouldn't have any, as so had been swept up in the moment and had agreed to assist in the mischief making, even if he was probably going to end up in detention for a month- or worse, expelled. Nevertheless, who doesn't love a good bit of mischief making? Had become a phrase Remus repeated over and over to himself as James and Sirius began thinking up wilder and wilder plans.

Slightly disgruntled by his rude awakening, James began pulling on his robes and attempting the impossible task of trying to get his unruly hair to lie flat on his head. He was all for the monumental jokes that he and Sirius had been planning ever since his latest batch of Zonko's goodies had been delivered, but the main thing on his mind that morning was that the first Quidditch match of the season was being held on Saturday. Despite his best efforts, James had been unable to persuade Madame Hooch to bend the rules on allowing first years to try out for the team, but since then he had been desperately trying to concoct a plan in order to worm his way onto the Gryffindor house team, and with the first match of the season (against Slytherin, no less) fast approaching, he needed to think of something, and he needed to think of it quick. Sirius, who had calmed down enough to stop bouncing on the beds, caught sight of James' expression, tutted and rolled his eyes,

"Not still moping about Quidditch are you, mate?"

James sighed, but shook his head all the same. He was fully aware of Siruis' opinion on the matter by now.

"You are, aren't you?" Sirius asked, not pausing for a reply, "there's no way in hell you're going to get on the team. First years just don't do it. Ever. Ok?"

James didn't know it, but Sirius was just bitter about the fact that his mother had confiscated his first broomstick on his seventh birthday, after pushing his brother Regulus down the stairs for trying to play with Sirius' most prized possession.

"What's first then boys?" squeaked and excited Peter, who, in the opinion of Sirius, made far too much of an effort to fit in with the boys than was necessary. For this reason, he often irritated Sirius. It was only through James' persuasion that Sirius had consented to letting Peter tag along with their little group.

"We've been over this a thousand times Peter!" groaned Sirius exasperatedly, "Remus, you're on breakfast duty, take Peter with you. James, you know what to do, just make sure you keep out of sight. Ok?"

James saluted Sirius with a wicked grin on his face, Remus looked rather pleased at having been chosen for the most magically complicated job and Peter just looked puzzled,

"What are you going to be doing?" he asked Sirius, a lock of his mosey blond hair flopping into his eyes,

"I," he smirked, looking please with himself, "will be in the girls' bathrooms."

This was the only part of the plan that Remus actually objected to. All of the other tricks the boys had in store were fairly harmless, but this one was taking things a step too far, particularly seeing as Remus' first ever friends had been Lilly and Susi, and he didn't see them being too pleased with what Sirius had in store for the Gryffindor girls that morning.

"Onward!" cried James excitedly.

Sirius led the way out of the room, pausing to spring into mid air and click his heels before sneaking off to the girls' bathrooms. Remus and Peter headed off out of the portrait hole and James seemed to disappear into thin air with a flourish of silvery grey material. The mischief had begun.

By the time The Marauders had finished preparing their tricks, the rest of the castle was just waking up. By the time breakfast was served, the four boys sat huddled at one end of the Gryffindor table, sipping pumpkin juice and eagerly awaiting their first victims.

Suddenly, there was an almighty shriek from the entrance hall, shortly followed by a haughty looking sixth year Slytherin girl on the arm of an equally snooty looking Slytherin seventh year boy. Both were covered in a rather disgusting looking yellowish slime and were emitting the foulest sulphurous odour of rotting eggs.

"Was that supposed to be some sort of _joke_?" She screeched, stamping her feet.

"There, there, Cissy, I'll catch the brats that did this. And when I do, they'll wish they had never been born," the boy had longish white blond hair and the coldest grey eyes, which he used to survey the Gryffindor table with, eyes pausing on the Marauders, who begin enthusiastically tubing into breakfast to avoid detection. With that, the pair strolled out of the great hall, but not before several of the students had captured their appalled expressions on their cameras.

All of the students (other than the Slytherins, who were most un-amused) began snickering to themselves, but little did they know they too were about to fall foul of the next of the tricks.

The Gryffindor girls were later than usual to breakfast this morning, and when Lily and Susanna plonked themselves down at the table, they bore less than impressed looks on their faces,

"Everything alright Lily?" asked Remus, trying to remain as casual as possible.

"No, everything is most certainly not bloody alright, Remus," She snapped,

"_Someone_, thought it would be hilarious to change all of the soap in the girls bathroom to frogspawn soap," hissed Susi angrily, "and I'm pretty sure you had something to do with it Black!"

Remus suppressed a snigger, while the other boys fell about laughing. Both girls looked less than impressed, and as the Gryffindor table filled up with females, the expressions on Lily and Susanna's faces were mirrored.

Lily glared icily at the boys, before pouring herself a cup of tea, she raised it to her mouth, only to find that it suddenly grew teeth and latched itself onto her nose,

"OW! What the- Get it off!" She shrieked, leaping up. She was not the only one, ever since the beginning of breakfast people had been going to take a sip of tea, and finding that their teacups were taking nasty nips at their noses.

"Nose biting teacups, genius!" whispered James to Remus, giving the boy a sly pat on the back.

Up at the staff table, Professor Dumbledore let out a chuckle; he was taking great delight in watching the chaos unfold before his eyes. Beside him, Professor McGonagall tutted loudly, buttering her third slice of toast of the morning. Unlike many of her students (and some of her colleagues) she had figured out the teacup problem and had transfigured a nearby apple into a suitable drinking vessel that would not take a chunk out of her nose. There was no doubt in her mind who was behind this little fiasco, but while the headmaster seemed at ease with the situation, she would allow it to go unpunished…For the time being…

The rest of the day passed in a blur of stink pellets and dung bombs, along with the occasional firework and harmless explosion.

Susanna was initially rather miffed by the japes of the boys, but as the day went of, she grew more and more amused by the happenings as long as they were not harming her, though she would never admit that to the boys of course. One thing that dampened her spirits, as it did every Thursday, was double history. After lunch they trudged up to the first floor and began yawning before they had even reached their seats.

The first half an hour of the lesson passed in it's usual dreary way. However, soon a ripple of strange noises filled the room, and Susi found a sweet being pressed into her hand, warily, she popped it into her mouth and soon began to realise what the strange noise was. Every few seconds, a student would jump up out of their chair and make the loudest hiccoughing sound possible. It seemed as though the Marauders' latest tactic was to try and liven up the most boring lesson ever by passing around hiccoughing sweets. Susi, half heartedly rolled her eyes and slid a note over to Lily's desk,

It seems the boys have bought out the entire stock of Zonko's. How original- S x

Lily grinned at her and did a bit of a cross-eyed goofy expression that Susi presumed conveyed some sort of amusement at the situation. By the time the first half of the double history lesson was up, Professor Binns was at his wits end, and instead of putting them through another hour of torture, ordered them all to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey dished out reversal potions.

Susi gave a grateful smile to Remus as the students revelled in their hour of freedom before being dragged up to the common room by Lily.

"I must say, I'm quite impressed with the way HM's taking all this," remarked James, in reference to Susi, as the boys began preparations for their final act of mischief, "I thought she was far to goody-goody for this sort of thing."

"Told you she's alright. And she _hates_ history, so in a way we did her a favour," Remus replied,

"Urgh, then I wish we'd done something else. Anything that makes that witch's life easier is not something that I want to do," again, Sirius did not say witch.

"Alright, alright, we get the picture, you hate her. But Remy seems to like her," James interjected.

Sirius glared, he did not expect mutiny on a day like today, thus giving him yet another reason to hate Susanna.

"Lets just get on with this, shall we?" he spoke through gritted teeth, and the boys returned to laughing and joking as they prepared for their next act of mischief.

During dinner that evening, the great hall was buzzing with excitement, as all anyone could talk about were the tricks that had been occurring all day all over the castle, with one third year boy claiming that one of the teacups had nearly taking his eye out that morning.

"Professor Dumbledore, I really think we should have a word with the students I suspected, they've bond to have cooked something up for this evening, and I think they've been disruptive enough today without giving them the opportunity to inflict more chaos!" Professor McGonagall spoke in a hushed, urgent whisper,

"Now, now, Minerva, I assure you it's all good natured fun. No one has been seriously harmed by the pranks; in fact I find them rather charming. Come now, lets see what they've cooked up for this evening's entertainment." Dumbledore patted McGonagall's hand in a reassuring way as the food appeared in the large serving dishes on the tables.

The shepherds' pie was served and consumed without a hitch, and people were beginning to wonder if the jokers had bottled out of whatever grand finale they had been planning. However, the moment the treacle tart hit the tables, the great hall began to be swamped with huge, luminous balloons, which, despite the best efforts of teachers and students alike, would not burst. The great hall soon became full of them, and the occupants of the great hall were quickly being pushed towards the exits by the tide non-explodable luminous balloons.

By the time the boys had reached their dormitory, they collapsed on their beds laughing.

"Well done boys, mischief managed!" bellowed Sirius, following his utterance with his bark-like laugh,

"From now on, mischief night will be hereby known as Marauders day!" exclaimed James, who begun bouncing happily on his bed, just as Sirius had done that morning.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I updated, I've had huge ammount of schoolwork to do and I'm WAY behind in Italian, that, mixed with writers block on this chapter, is not a good combination. Thank you for all the lovely reviews! Anyway, this one's all about Lily and James, it's a little shorter than usual but the next chapter will be up soon. Enjoy.**

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It was not the first time since she had started at Hogwarts, that Lily Evans had snuck out after hours to find an empty classroom in which to practise her wand work. She was getting better and better, and was set to become one of the best in her year, a goal which she yearned for with every fibre of her very determined being. Lily was not naïve enough to believe that all of her peers thought her an equal; even though she was only a first year, she did not miss the way that certain students looked upon those of her parentage with extreme distaste. She had only been at the school for three days when she first heard the term 'Mudblood'. Lily had been on her way out of the dungeons alone after potions, when she had literally bumped into a group of fifth year Slytherin girls, who promptly spat the word at her, wrinkling up their noses and looking down their noses at her as if she was second-class. It wasn't until she was chatting with her fellow dormitory mates that she had learned what the word meant.

Ever since that day, Lily had felt the need to prove herself, sneaking out a couple of times a week to practise her magic. Charms was her favourite lesson, but she was rather good at potions also, Professor Slughorn had informed her that she had a natural talent for the subject. Lily found potions rather like cooking, a subject that she had found tedious at her muggle primary school. Charms was definitely her favourite. She loved the way she could make objects whiz through the air and dance around the room. She was getting very good at it as well, she had managed to levitate a desk three foot from the floor, something which her classmates could only dream of at the moment, for heavy objects were a lot harder than the feathers and books they had been practising on.

Suddenly, the door creaked open behind her and the desk fell to the floor with a thud as she whirled around, her heart racing, she would _not_ go through the indignity of a detention.

"So it _was_ you who snuck out!" James Potter smirked, "not as much of a goody goody as you seem are you Evans. What are you doing in here anyway?"

Lily scowled. Furious at him for intruding,

"Shush! Keep your voice down! You'll get us caught out of bed and we'll end up in detention," Lily grumbled, "and it's none of your business what I'm doing in here, Potter."

James smiled; for some reason, he felt a surge of admiration for Lily, despite his initial impressions that she was a boring by the book sort of girl.

"Alright, I won't ask questions, but we should head back to the tower, Filch is on the prowl and you don't want him catching you out of bed,"

Lily studied the boy carefully, taken aback by his sudden sincerity, waiting for the catch to kick in,

"How do you propose we get back without being seen if Filch is wandering around?"

Once again, James smirked. Of course, he had a trick up his sleeve.

"If you don't tell anyone, I'll let you in on a secret. Alright, Evans?"

She looked at him dubiously, still unsure whether or not to trust him, after all, this was James Potter, who shared responsibility for causing mischief and being downright annoying. Not to mention the fact that his ego was so huge Lily was surprised he could fit through the portrait hole.

Lily suspicions, however, were quickly resolved when a bedraggled looking cat slunk around the door and gave an almighty screech in order to summon her master,

"Bollocks! Quick under here!" James threw a strange looking silvery cloak over himself and Lily and steered her quickly out of the door.

"What the hell Potter?" she whispered, Filch was stupid, but he was sure to notice a large lump of silvery fabric wandering the halls.

James ignored her and instead clamped a hand over her mouth. This was, however, futile as they rounded the corner at a quickening pace and bumped straight into Filch.

"What the- STUDENTS! STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Filch let out an almighty shriek. He had no idea how the little buggers had managed it, but they're made themselves invisible and were running around the castle.

Still concealed by the magical cloak, James grabbed Lily by the wrist and dragged her along behind him as he sprinted towards the Gryffindor tower.

Lily wasn't sure how they managed it; they reached the tower, scrambled through the portrait hole and collapsed onto the sofas in front on the dying fire, gasping for breath after running from the third to the seventh floor.

"What _is_ that cloak James?" Lily's eyes widened in wonder,

"It's an invisibility cloak, stupid. Watch this!" he wrapped the cloak around only his head, and chucked as Lily gasped at the headless body of her classmate, "you should see your face Evans!"

"And you should see yours! You don't have one!" the pitch of Lily's voice rose in alarm, "just when I thought I was getting used to this magic thing…"

James removed his invisibility cloak from around his head and studied the girls face. She looked sad.

"So are you going to tell me what you were doing in that classroom? Seeing as I risked my neck coming to rescue you from Filch," James asked seriously,

"You didn't _have_ to follow me Potter," Lily evaded the question, but James gave her a look that told her that he wasn't going to drop it, "fine. I'll tell you. But you have to keep it a secret…or I'll tell everyone about your cloak!"

James considered her offer for a moment, and then nodded, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"I was practising."

"Practising what?" he asked

"Magic, stupid," Lily rolled her eyes

"Why?" confusion tinged his voice, "you're the best in our year, why would you need to practise?"

Lily sighed; boys could be so stupid sometimes.

"Because I'm a mudblood. If I don't practise loads I'm never going to be any good," Lily couldn't meet his eyes.

Mudblood. James hated the word. His parents had brought him up to be proud of his heritage, but they had also taught him good values and not to look down on others.

"Who told you that?"

Lily shrugged,

"I'm not stupid James, I know what people think about people who have parents like mine. I don't know how I can do magic, but I shouldn't be able to, right? I don't want to fail and then get sent home because they realise I don't belong here," she said very quietly,

"You have as much of a right to be here as any of us pure bloods, Lily,"

Lily snapped her head up, her green eyes meeting his hazel ones. Those were the first kind words James Potter had ever spoken to her, and she was shocked, she didn't think he had it in him. All she could do was nod in response.

"Well, after all that excitement I'm going to bed, night Evans!" James called as he bounded towards the spiral staircase.

As Lily clambered into her bed, taking care not to trip over Susi's books, which littered the floor in the space between their beds, she made a mental note to be a little less harsh on James Potter in the future.


End file.
